BeachWatch
by zatl
Summary: Sadie is a regular at the beach. She sees everything. One day she sees two people walking and they captivate her attention. This basically follows Tony's and Ziva's relationship from an outside perspective... then adds on a little. Read and Review :


**A/N: This takes place after Jeanne. I was going to include her, but that got too complicated, so I skipped ahead. I was inspired for this when I was reviewing a story. Enough said.**

**Disclaimer: I own NCIS!!!! Ha. Got you for a second there, didn't I. But sadly, no, I can only dream.**

The beach is always the perfect place to go. Weather it be to swim or to play, to run or to relax, to sleep or to read, or just to watch. And watching was exactly what I, Sadie, was doing on one warm summers evening. I watched as the deep blue waves crashed gently against the shore line, and and the puffy white clouds drifted lazily across the sapphire sky, and as swimmers swam and as surfers surfed and as children played in the sand, building sand castles higher and higher until a wave came crashing down, and they had to start over. I watched as parent chased after their kids, and as high schoolers played volley ball and as the seagulls flew over head, scavenging for food. If I looked far enough down, past the pier and all the life guards, I could barely see families and kindergarden classes as they wandered the tide pools.

My favorite thing to watch was the water, especially and sunset, because of all the color. Not the water close to the shore, where all the people were having fun, but far out, past everything and everyone, where I could get lost in the endless blue. I could lay on my towel and just stare out and blank out all the others, and forget all the troubles of this world.

In fact, that was what I was doing at that moment, laying down and slowly drifting off into my own little world. I was almost there when something, or someone, caught my eye. It was hard to do that nowadays; as I was so familiar with the scenery, it was hard to surprise me. In fact, when I realized what... who, had captured my attention, it was merely two people, walking along the beach. Just walking. There was nothing special about them, and yet there was. I had seen many couples walking before, some sharing innocent kisses, and some having full on make out sessions. But these two were only walking, his hands in his pockets, hers swinging at her sides, and yet I could feel more intensity radiation off of them then I ever had from anyone else before.

In a second all my fascination with the water was gone, replaced with the alluring charm of this... pair. I wasn't sure what to call them. They were obviously not a couple, as shown by their obvious lack of physical contact, yet they were so much more then friends. If I had that look in her eyes when I was around her friends, then I was definitely bi.

I continued to watch them. He would say something, and the corners of her lips would turn up ever so slightly; she would say something and he would laugh or chuckle; he would reply, and she would hit him lightly on the arm, and one time even on the back of the head, earning her a glare, then a smile.

It took me a minute to realize I was holding my breath. But for what? In an overly dramatic kind of way, I was waiting for them to profess their undying love for each other and make love, right there on the beach, right then, but I would have settled for them holding hands. Sadly, this did not happen, and I could only watch as the two of them walked down the beach disappearing from view and leaving me to watch the now boring and unappealing water by comparison.

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And so I would continue to come to the beach, every day of the week for an hour or two, like I always did. I would continue to watch all the people and the scenery, and I would continue to enjoy it. But now there was a difference. Now there was always one day of the week I would look forward to more than the others, one day in which she could get those few couple minutes to watch them as they made their way along the beach. Always the same.

I loved to watch as their relationship progressed. Physically nothing would change. They would never touch each other, only make small talk and laugh. But now I could see as they began to realize what they had together. They would glance at each other more often, giving the other a longing look when they thought the other wasn't looking. Once, they caught the other's eye and turned away from each other quickly blushing slightly. But there was never anything more then that. I started making bets with myself, as to when something would change. And then one day it did.

They were walking along the beach as usual. But something was different. It took me a moment to realize what it was; they weren't talking. There was an unusual silence between them, and I wondered for a moment if they were fighting. But then I saw it. The look they gave each other said it all. Something had happened and they were both in pain. I didn't even know them and yet I was feeling sorry for them.

They continued to walk in this painful silence until he stopped. Right in front of where I was sitting. I sat up on her towel and watched them like a movie, waiting to see what was going to happen next.

They only stood there, communicating with their eyes, staring deep into the others' soul trying to say things they couldn't with words. They stood there for what seemed like hours until he leaned forward and pulled her into a comforting hug. At first she seemed reluctant, uncomfortable, until she finally gave, and leaned into him. He leaned down and whispered something in her ear, and she nodded. They walked right past me, the distance between them reestablished, both fighting back tears, both with regret and sorrow written all over their faces. I was tempted for a moment to get up and ask what was wrong, but the moment passed, and then they were gone.

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Three months passed and I had long since given up hope of ever seeing them again. I still came to the beach, and still hoped to see them once a week, but never expected it. My life was almost empty without them, like I had been living for those few minutes a week to watch two strangers walk passed, talking. The sunsets began to seem less beautiful, the children less happy, the ocean less welcoming. I was not depressed, no, but it seemed to me like an important part of her life had gotten up and walked away, leaving me to the boring, mundane pattern of a normal daily routine. All the excitement now gone.

Then one day, all of a sudden, they were back. I could practically feel their presence and they walked down the beach, and when I saw them, I felt the strangest urge to run up, hug them and yell "welcome home", but resisted.

I watched them walk and talk like normal, and yet there was something else there. Something beyond the normal chatter and joking. It was a certain awkwardness that had developed, causing me to wonder where they had been and what they had been doing for the last three months. Something made me think they hadn't been with each other.

This continued on for a few weeks, like they were trying to get passed the awkward stage and back to what they had before. Sure the sparks were still there, in fact, if anything they were more raging than ever, but a wall had been put up, a shield, protecting them from the heat emanating from their skin. They were not growing apart, but forcing themselves apart, tearing away any strand of a personal relationship, even if it was just friendship.

And that was how it ended. They would still come to the beach and walk, but never together. The girl had started a patten of coming and sitting and watching the ocean, like I did, or running along the beach, looking nowhere at all. I noticed at these times how well in shape she was. The guy, would walk, a depressed look always present on his face. Even on the few days he would run, his face always remained the same. And so it continued. Weeks on end.

Then, I saw her running down the beach, and him, running from the opposite direction. I knew, in that instant that this was a pivotal moment in their relationship, and I couldn't help but try to get closer. I jumped up and walked as calmly as I could down to about where I thought they would meet, and stayed close so I could hear them, yet far, so I wouldn't get caught. And then then they met. They stopped running, facing each other, staring into the others' eyes, professing their feelings once again wordlessly.

"Tony." She finally said shortly, acknowledging him.

"Zee-vah." He replied.

I smiled to myself as I learned their names.

"We need to talk." Ziva started slowly.

"Do we really _need_ to?" He asked, stepping forward, closing the space between their bodies.

As their bodies brushed against each other, she leaned up to meet his lips. The result was astounding. Comparing the kiss to an chemical reaction, lighting a match being a one and an atomic blast being a ten, they would have received a twelve at least. That kiss put academe award winning romance scenes to shame.

I could see as the last few years of pent of sexual tension was ripped to shreds and destroyed, and couldn't help but yell out "YES! Finally." I froze as they broke the kiss to look over at me. I stared at them for a second, then ran off, back to my usual watching place. When I sat back down, I watched as he reached out and took her hand, smiling, and they walked along the beach, lightly bumping into each other with every step.

**Well, I hope you liked it. Please review, as reviews really do make a huge difference.**


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